Lollapalooza was forced to cancel the 2020 festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but organizers announced a creative workaround for fans craving live music.
The free Lolla 2020 livestream, airing from July 30 to Aug. 2 exclusively on YouTube, will feature over 150 archival and original performances and appearances — including the first major reunion in over two decades from Porno for Pyros, the post-Jane’s Addiction band fronted by Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell.
The four-day event will feature past headlining slots from Paul McCartney, OutKast, LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire (marking the 10th anniversary of their 2010 LP, The Suburbs), Metallica, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Chance the Rapper, Run the Jewels, Lorde, Alabama Shakes, Ellie Goulding, Tove Lo, and Hinds, among others.
Original live sets will include H.E.R., Kali Uchis, Vic Mensa, The Neighbourhood, Tank and the Bangas, Kaskade, Yungblud, ZHU, Pink Sweat$, Alison Wonderland, and more. Farrell will lead a David Bowie tribute with pianist Mike Garson, join Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins for a performance with Kind Heaven Orchestra, and host conversations with performers like Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, Chuck D, and Matt Pinfield.
Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot will appear throughout the event to co-host discussions with Farrell and LL Cool J. The livestream will spotlight causes important to Lolla history and Chicago itself, the festival’s longtime home.
In much more depressing news, Lollapalooza co-founder Marc Geiger recently predicted that live music — in its traditional forms — won’t return until late 2021 or “more likely” 2022. “It’s my instinct, that’s going to take a while because super-spreader events – sports, shows, festivals…aren’t going to do too well when the virus is this present,” he said.
